


Caught in a Goodbye

by st_valentinus



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, SHIELD, and pretend they're a couple, how unique and original am i, they go undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 00:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_valentinus/pseuds/st_valentinus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha has a new mission to take care of on her own, which leads Clint to find a way to say goodbye. Of course, this goodbye doesn't last as long as they expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Natasha walked with Agent Coulson down one of the many halls in the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, discussing the mission she was to leave for in the next hour or so; they were reviewing the new identity Natasha had to take on while also discussing the targets. This mission already proved to be a bit more difficult than some of Natasha’s previous ones, as this time she had to interact with children to get closer to the mark. Natasha was _not_ good with children, but she wasn’t often around a child, so maybe she’ll have this opportunity to work on that particular skill.

Agent Coulson stopped them near the door of his office, “So, once more—”

“Coulson, I’ve got it all.” Natasha interrupted as she crossed her arms. Coulson lightly shook his head, having dealt with this quite often. He reached into his pocket to pull out Natasha’s fake ID, cards, and papers.

“Just one last time, Agent Romanoff.”

With a sigh, Natasha began, “My name is Sarah Rosewood; I’m a twenty-nine year old whose profession is in childcare. My family is from Santa Barbara, California and I recently moved because of work related problems.” Coulson grinned ever-so-slightly in praise as he handed Natasha all her important documents for Sarah Rosewood.

“Very good, Agent; I’ve got things to take care of, so you can get yourself outta here without my escorting you.” Agent Coulson said before entering his office. Natasha began to walk down the hall while putting her cards and documents in the bag she had hanging over her shoulder and resting on her hip.

“Hey there, stranger.” Natasha looked up to see Clint exiting a room, giving a small grin. Natasha returned the expression before putting on a straight-face again so no one could see her with any bit of an emotion that wasn’t professional, “You’re leaving soon, right?”

Natasha nodded, “In about an hour. Why; you trying to get rid of me?” Clint smiled at her before biting the inside of his cheek for a moment in thought.

“Of course; I want you to enjoy getting the chance to work with all those children.” He said with a small laugh; there was something on Clint’s mind, Natasha could tell, “How long do you think it’ll take to complete?”

“Hopefully no more than a couple of months.” She replied simply. She could hear Clint make a small ‘hmm’ sound, but besides that he was silent, “Is something bothering you?”

Clint gave Natasha a side look, “Why would something be bothering me?” Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Oh, please, Clint, I can tell there’s something on your mind that you’re not sharing.”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t share, but I never say anything about it.” He continued simply. Natasha sighed loudly and stopped walking to give Clint a stern look, “Tasha, it’s nothing.” She cocked an eyebrow in response, waiting for a real answer. When Clint saw she was determined to push the topic, he took in a large breath as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Fine, fine; if that’s how it’s gonna be…” Clint glanced up and down the hall then looked into the lens of a security camera angled toward him. To avoid suspicion, he made a mocking face at it as he usually would (he was such a five year old sometimes) before continuing his walk down the hall, “Follow me.” Natasha had already been in close step alongside Clint before he said a word.

The pair walked in silence for a minute or so as they made their way to exit the building. Natasha quickly assumed that whatever Clint had to say was something not to be shared with the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. Another minute later, the two were away from the building just enough for Clint to think it was safe to talk.

Clint hesitated for a moment, thinking about the best way to share his thoughts, before letting out a sigh, “…I’m really gonna miss you, Tasha.” Natasha rolled her eyes.

“We came all the way out here just for _that_?”

“No, that’s not all.” Clint defended and let out a large sigh, “S.H.I.E.L.D. frowns down on too much emotional attachment to anyone…” Natasha’s forehead crinkled slightly in confusion, “and, simply put, I have a lot of emotional attachment to you.” Natasha took in a sharp breath.

“Clint—”

“Don’t take that the wrong way.” Clint interrupted, “I’m not saying that in a romantic context, but, Tasha, you’re my partner and have been through almost everything; going on separate missions is hard on me.”

Natasha tried to keep on her professional front, but she realized she could let out some emotions now that they were alone, “I understand that—I prefer our partner missions, too, but you seem a little worried to see me go by myself.”

“I am worried.” Clint said simply, “I know you can take care of yourself, but I will always be worried. I hate when you forget to check-in or when a mission takes longer than expected—I automatically assume the worst.” Natasha smiled lightly.

“You don’t think I get the same way when you’re on a solo mission?” Clint looked at Natasha in surprise, “I try to detach myself from emotions to make my job easier—and generally it works—but you’re… you’re my best friend.” Clint thought he saw a tinge of pain cross Natasha’s features—she felt vulnerable to be admitting to this, “But, all I can say is try not to let any sort of worry get in the way of the jobs you have while I’m gone.”

Clint gave Natasha a sincere smile, “I’ll do my best…” he thought for a few moments, “and don’t let your wild fantasies about me distract you from your mission.” Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Right, because I most definitely have distracting fantasies about you.” Clint raised a challenging eyebrow as he grinned, trying to get Natasha to admit to anything. But she wouldn’t. She wasn’t going to tell Clint she had had _any_ sexual thoughts about him in the past, but it seemed as if Clint could somehow tell that Natasha was hiding those things from him, “Like you haven’t fantasized before…” she muttered, causing Clint to chuckle.

“Of course I have; I’m just more able to admit to it because I don’t pride myself in being unemotional.” Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Those two things don’t have to go hand-in-hand.”

“Don’t they?” Natasha watched carefully as Clint took a large step to her, “Maybe they do.” Natasha lightly shook her head, which got Clint grinning; he really got a kick out of this. As the two stared each other down, Clint slowly inched closer to Natasha—an act that didn’t go unseen. She already formulated what she assumed he was doing and took a step back.

“Clint…” Natasha said in a warning tone. He still looked at her in amusement as she grew defensive.

“You’re just always ready to throw a punch.” Clint said, “Don’t worry yourself all the time.”

“I always have reason to worry, and right now it’s worried over why you keep getting closer.”

“Because friends stand in close proximities to each other.” Clint responded quickly.

“That is _not_ why you’re getting closer.” She said, “I have a pretty good idea of what you aim to do.”

“Well, maybe you should just let me continue so you can see if your suspicions are correct.” Natasha shook her head and began walking back toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. office.

“Fat chance.” She replied. After not receiving any kind of response from Clint, Natasha continued walking, assuming he had backed down.

But she was wrong. In an instant, strong arms circled around Natasha’s waist and turned her around. Clint firmly pressed his lips over Natasha’s before she could fight back; she only put up a struggle for a few moments, but feeling Clint’s soft lips moving against hers put Natasha’s mind in a frenzy. Slowly, Natasha’s hands ran up Clint’s chest to the back of his neck where one hand gripped the short hairs at the base of his skull. With a satisfied sigh, Natasha leaned into his strong body, circulating even more heat between them.

Clint, once he knew Natasha wasn’t going to hurt him, kissed her more aggressively, gliding his tongue along her lower lip. Natasha resisted some, but Clint took this as a tempting challenge; with a slight grin he forced his tongue past Natasha’s lips and was happy to be met by her tongue, which fought against his. Clint’s arms tightened on her waist, pressing his fingers firmly into her back; holding her this way felt so right to Clint. Having Natasha there in his arms felt right, and that sudden realization scared Clint.

With that, Clint tried to pull away, but Natasha wouldn’t have it—this felt just as good to her, but she didn’t seem to realize—in that moment—the consequences of the two together feeling so right. So, at feeling Clint want to pull away, she clung to him even tighter, pressing her lips roughly against his. Clint could hardly stand the thought of pulling away and only chose to kiss her fully again. He didn’t give a damn about consequences right now.

As their hands moved over each other’s bodies and tongues fought together, someone happened to be walking by their location and saw what was going on.

Bruce Banner froze at the sight before him; to say he was surprised was partly true, but secretly he had suspected something. He wasn’t entirely sure of what he suspected, but he and many others knew the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have a very strong bond; seeing this only helped confirm this. Bruce couldn’t suppress the amused smirk that crossed his features. Then he realized how strange it was for him to be watching this scene and blushed lightly in embarrassment. So, he coughed loudly in hope to get their attention. Sure enough, Clint and Natasha’s head whipped toward him, staring a little wide-eyed. Clint collected himself quickly and pulled back from Natasha, looking at Bruce as if nothing happened. Bruce continued to smirk in amusement.

“Hey, Banner.” Clint greeted coolly. Bruce laughed lightly.

“You two looked busy.” Both agents looked away from him, “Sorry to interrupt.”

“No you’re not.” Clint replied, causing Banner to chuckle again.

“Well… this is strange.”

“Then you should go.” Natasha said quickly.

“Shouldn’t you be going somewhere soon?” Realization crossed Natasha’s features as she looked at her watch.

“Shit.” She spat while looking back to Clint, “I really need to get going.” Clint nodded slightly as he looked at Bruce, who raised an eyebrow. Natasha—in a rush and without a care for the one-man audience—pressed a kiss to Clint’s lips before she began walking away, “ _Please_ , kick his ass.” She said lowly to Clint, who grinned slightly.

“Of course.” He replied as he watched her walk away. Clint then looked over at Bruce—while pointing a finger—who tried to keep a poker face, “This information stays with me.”

Bruce put up his hands defensively, “I won’t tell anyone.” He said simply. Clint gave him a stern look.

“You may play innocent and nice, but I’ll be watching you.” Bruce chuckled as they began walking back toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. building, “You’re the one to watch, you know.”

“And why is that?” Bruce asked, enjoying the sight of Clint trying to hid his embarrassment and flurried thoughts.

“The quiet ones are always the worst.” Clint responded and turned down a hall. Bruce watched with a grin.

“How was it, Clint?” He mocked. Anyone could see the tense of Clint’s shoulders. He threw a glare over his should while flipping Bruce the bird, continuing down the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Natasha entered the small preschool quietly with a smile on her face; this smile obviously fake, but in this last month she’s quickly grown to, maybe not like, but certainly tolerate the place. Natasha discovered that she actually got on well enough with the kids here. And some of the parents who she interacted with were tolerable as well. Maybe she didn’t dislike children as much as she first assumed.

“Hello, Sarah.” An older woman—Ms. Mary—said with a warm smile. Ms. Mary owned this daycare and ran it beautifully. Natasha gave her the typical ‘Sarah’ smile—innocent and almost annoyingly friendly.

“Hi, Ms. Mary.” She greeted simply and looked out at the children running and playing in the open, sunlit room, “Any special plans for today?”

“None today, but this week we’ve been having many parents hang around longer than usual.”

Natasha took off her coat and hung it in the office, “Well, I’m guessing it’s the mothers who always seem to be everywhere together?” Natasha asked. Ms. Mary gave her a small nod.

“At least they like to spend this time with their children, though it’s as if they use this place as a meeting spot.” That statement made Natasha a little curious—her mark (or rather, the wife of a mark) was one of these mothers and now Natasha wondered if she could possibly be gaining help from the other moms.

“That’s nice, then,” she replied, remembering to stay in character and not let anyone know this seemed a bit odd to her, “they want to spend time with their children and each other.”

“It is nice to see.” Ms. Mary smiled, “Could you go watch the kids and calm them down a little; they are off the walls today.”

Natasha gave a nod and began walking to the mess of children playing. When a few saw her, they gave some sort of a greeting before continuing their games. Natasha gave small smile to each, adding a wave here and there, “Hey, kids, I need everyone to settle down just a little bit; its only nine in the morning and you all have more energy than Ms. Mary and I combined.” Many of the children listened to Natasha’s request, as they liked her enough to cooperate (or maybe they just acknowledged that she had power over them, children’s mentality were sometimes very hard to understand), and most began to find quieter activities. Natasha, satisfied with her work, walked to a circle of four mothers (two of which had their children sitting in their laps or at their feet). As she approached, Maxine—one of the mothers—looked up and gave a smile. Maxine Karan was a part-time employee at this daycare center, a mother, and—most importantly—Natasha’s target; more specifically, she and her husband were both the targets. Maxine had no suspicions relating to Natasha—she thought Natasha’s character was kind and helpful, taking well to her—which helped Natasha’s cover a great deal.

“Sarah, come over here.” Maxine called, smiling large. Natasha sat in one of the small chairs at the table the four women sat at, greeting each of them quietly.

“So, what’s everyone talking about?” She asked in a casual tone.

One of the mothers sighed, “Our husbands and their jobs.”

“I believe one of us is not married.” A brunette mother said with a smile, referring to herself (as she was dating a new man).

“Yes, well, we’re talking about our men and how overwhelming their jobs are.” Maxine said, “They’re always at work or bringing work home with them; it makes spending time with them so difficult.”

From there, Natasha pretended to listen to the conversation going on between the woman; she really didn’t find anything relatively interesting in it. Of course, she would listen when Maxine spoke in case she let information slip, but besides that the conversation held no intrigue to Natasha.

“Sarah,” someone started, getting Natasha’s attention quickly. She looked up at all the mothers, waiting for whoever spoke to continue, “What about you? Any man to account for?”

Maxine looked up, “You never mention much about your personal life…” she said with interest, “I would expect a girl like you to have a man by now, if not a few admirers.” Natasha opened her mouth to speak, but her phone began ringing in her jeans pocket, saving her from answering the women. She pulled it out to find a familiar number showing up on the screen, causing a hint of a smile to tug at her lips. With a small sigh, she answered and stood to put some distance between herself and the curious mothers.

“I need to take this.” She said simply before bringing the phone to her ear, “As much as I appreciate this call, you shouldn’t be calling me while I’m doing a job.” She spoke quietly. Clint chuckled lightly.

 _“It’s important.”_ He said simply, _“You haven’t checked in in almost two weeks, S.H.I.E.L.D. started to get worried.”_

“Are you sure it isn’t just you that’s worried about me?” Natasha asked amused. She threw a glance over her shoulder, catching all the mothers looking at her in curious beguilement, making Natasha raise an eyebrow.

_“Oh, of course; someone has to.”_

“Is that the only reason you called?” She asked.

 _“Well… mostly…”_ Clint laughed once more, _“Maybe I just wanted to talk.”_ He mocked, his smile evident in his speech.

“We can’t when I’m working.” Natasha said while looking at a small group of children playing ‘duck, duck, goose’ some yards away from her, “If you really want, I _might_ just call you later.”

 _“Please do; you know I miss you.”_ Natasha laughed lightly.

“Don’t joke like that, it sounds really weird and—I don’t know, too lovey when you say that.”

 _“Aw, come on, you don’t miss me, too?”_ Clint joked (he seemed to be doing that a lot today…). Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Yes… I miss you, too.” Natasha said to satisfy him, though she felt some vulnerability overcome her, “But now you have to let me work.”

 _“Fine. Bye Natasha, baby, my love, sweetie pie, honeybee; I’ll be counting down the moments until you’re in my arms again.”_ Clint joked in an overly sappy tone.

Natasha wanted to laugh, but held it back, rather just letting a smirk graze her lips, “Don’t call me ‘baby.’”

_“My love—”_

“Or _that_ ,” Natasha laughed once more, “Bye now.”

 _“Counting the moments.”_ Clint said before they both hung up. When Natasha turned around, all the mothers had mischievous, knowing looks on their faces, causing Natasha to raise her eyebrow.

“Doesn’t he just have impeccable timing?” Maxine said. Natasha’s eyes widened slightly.

“What are you talking about?” Natasha asked, trying to sound innocent like Sarah was supposed to be.

“You’re husband, dear.” The dark skinned woman said. All the mothers giggled at the expression Natasha made at hearing that statement.

“Oh, no, he’s not my husband, he—” Natasha started; she needed to turn the in-call volume down on her phone—she decided—so the octave of the caller’s voice would be hard for anyone besides herself to distinguish.

“Fiancé, then? Or just boyfriend?” Natasha sighed; S.H.I.E.L.D.  was going to hate her for changing Sarah’s bio, but it was the best route to go right now.

“Yes, fiancé.”  She said simply. All the women looked at each other amused before going back to questioning Natasha.

_“What’s his name?”, “What does he do?”, “Why don’t you talk about him?”, “How long have you known each other?”, “Where is he right now?”_

Natasha sighed heavily at the bombardment of questions, trying to quickly come up with answers. The mothers stopped and watched Natasha eagerly, “His name is James,” Natasha paused, “I’ve known him four years and… right now he’s finishing up a job transfer so he can move out here.”

“Aw, he’s moving to be closer to you?” One mother asked.

Natasha nodded, “Mhm; he’ll… probably be here within the next week.” Natasha mentally kicked herself repeatedly; S.H.I.E.L.D.  will _not_ be happy about this, but at least she could think quickly enough.

“Oh, he must come visit us; we need to meet this man of yours.”

Lucky for Natasha, Ms. Mary called her to the office for some help; Natasha didn’t need to make any more of an ass out of herself today.

* * *

As Natasha sat in a chair in her small, empty apartment, she stared at her phone; she needed to call S.H.I.E.L.D. so they knew about this new information she accidentally created. But she didn’t want to have an angry Fury or Coulson yelling at her. She had no choice though—she _had_ to do this. Natasha eventually picked up her phone and pressed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s speed dial. She quickly got an answer and then—after a few minutes of questioning to makes sure it was actually _her_ calling—was connected to Fury.

“Director Fury…” Natasha started slowly, “I need back up for my mission.”

_“How much back up and why?”_

“Just one, sir; Agent Barton would be ideal.” She sighed, “And… I need him to pose as my fiancé.” There was silence on the S.H.I.E.L.D. end for a moment.

 _“Agent Romanoff,”_ Director Fury said slowly, “ _why exactly do you need a fianc_ _é_ _out of the blue?”_

Natasha bit her lip, hoping Fury wasn’t upset, “Agent Barton called me while I was with my target and I had to cover up who he was, so I said he was my fiancé.” Natasha could hear Director Fury let out a sigh.

 _“He’ll be there in two days.”_ Natasha exhaled largely; he wasn’t angry (or he was just holding in all his anger for after the mission).

“Thank you, sir.” When the two hung up, Natasha ran a hand through her hair, relieved at how well that went, a little shocked to say the least.

* * *

 

Back at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Clint was sat apart from the other agents in the room, listening in on their discussions about recent missions or new technologies they had in the works. Clint enjoyed it for the most part, but when a secretary of Director Fury came for him, he grew confused; what could he be needed for now? He hadn’t caused any recent trouble… at least, none that he knows of.

He entered Fury’s office professionally and waited to be given some form of instruction or enlightenment on the situation, “Agent Barton…” Clint nodded lightly, “you’re needed on a mission.”

“What mission, sir?” Clint asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Agent Romanoff’s.” Clint gave Fury a surprised look.

“Director Fury, has something gone wrong with her mission?” He asked with a hint of worry.

“Agent Romanoff told the mark about a supposed fiancé and requested you take that role.” Clint sighed in relief—Natasha was safe—while trying to hide a grin; he had to pose as her fiancé?

Surprisingly, the two had only played a couple once—out of all their missions, only _once_. On multiple occasions, they posed as siblings, a few they were distant relatives—once Clint had to pretend to be Natasha’s _uncle_ (quite embarrassing for him, since he obviously wasn’t _that_ much older than her)—and many times they just played strangers so to have different connections to a mark. Getting to pretend to be Natasha’s fiancé could be fun.

“Now, Agent Barton, I want you to get a hold of Agent Romanoff, find out all she said about this ‘fiancé’, then report back so we can create an identity for you.”

“Yes, sir.” Clint said before leaving the room.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later, Natasha was nervous; she didn’t have much of a good reason to be, but she was. No one else could tell—to everyone, she was still plain old Sarah, and that’s how Natasha wanted it to be. She couldn’t bring any of her own personal emotions into her character—that could make her blow her cover eventually. Yet the thought of seeing Clint almost put her on edge with no good reason; maybe she was excited. That’s what this feeling in her stomach could be—they were excited nerves. But that wasn’t important at the present time—staying professional was.

Natasha was with Maxine and a woman from the day before—Natasha learnt her name was Beth. Maxine and Beth had been close friends for years, so Natasha also had to keep a watch on her (anyone with a connection to the target was also under suspicion of being involved), but all the gossipy mothers made it more than an easy job for Natasha; they spent enough time at the daycare and invited Natasha to spend time with them. For all Natasha knew, these woman could end up handing over all the information needed to complete the mission.

Natasha had been cleaning up plates and trash after the children’s lunch break, Maxine swept the floor, and Beth stood by watching while another employee was at the playground with the kids. The three women discussed what was on the local news the night before (nothing new, aside from a robbery and the county fair opening approaching) when the chime on the main door rang. Ms. Mary was up front, so neither Natasha nor Maxine thought to look up. Beth, though, was curious and stole a glance.

“Maxine, whose father is that?” Maxine also looked over, where they both saw a man talking to Ms. Mary, “I may be married, but he has one _nice_ body.” Natasha rolled her eyes as she walked into the kitchen, putting the other rooms out of her sight.

“I don’t know who he is…”

“Just look at those arms! That man has more muscle than my husband and brother combined!”

“Shh, Beth he’s coming over.” Maxine hissed while Natasha put dirty plates in the dishwasher.

“Do you think if I ask him if—”

“ _No,_ Beth.”

Natasha could hear the man’s steps approaching, but continued her job, “Hello, ladies.” Natasha froze, causing the plate in her hand to noisily clatter onto the counter (luckily it was plastic)—she _knew_ that voice _too_ well. Quickly, she stepped back into the dining area to see Clint there with Maxine and Beth; he was dressed in expensive-looking suit pants, a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled and the top two buttons undone, shiny new shoes, and a casual grin on his face. Natasha couldn’t at all deny that he looked good. When she stepped out, everyone turned to her, “Sarah, babe.” Clint walked over and pulled Natasha into his arms as Natasha gave him a surprised look. After a moment, Natasha hugged him back tightly as a fiancé (and a person who missed their best friend) would.

“I thought you were supposed to get here tonight.” Natasha said while pulling back, but Clint kept an arm firmly around her.

“Ah, details.” He replied with a wave of his hand before planting a small, unexpected kiss to Natasha’s lips, which made her ears red slightly (she felt as if she was acting more as Sarah than herself), “I wanted to surprise you.”

A cough came from Maxine and the couple looked at her and Beth, who smiled like Cheshires, “Sarah, would you like to introduce us to this lovely man?” Natasha gave a small nod while she and Clint took a few steps toward the woman.

“Well, this is my… fiancé, James.” Natasha gave the two mothers a small smile, “James, this is Beth and Maxine.” Natasha put a virtually unnoticeable stress on Maxine’s name, but Clint caught it and quickly understood the reason behind it.

“It’s nice to meet both of you.”  Clint smiled brightly as he shook their hands. Beth looked quite pleasant about this and Natasha practically snorted at how obvious she was.

“And it is one pleasure to meet you.” Beth replied. Maxine threw a side glance at her. Clint looked back at Natasha.

“Do you have to stay here the rest of the day? I haven’t seen you in over a month, after all; some time together could be nice.”

Natasha shook her head, “I can’t skip work, C—James.”

“No, go right ahead,” Maxine said with a large smile, “if you promise to tell us more about yourself, we can ask Ms. Mary to let you leave early.” Once more, Natasha shook her head.

“I really shouldn’t—”

“She won’t mind—I promise.” Natasha looked at Clint, who smiled as he pressed his fingertips more firmly into her hip.

“Fine.”

Soon, the four adults were sat on the floor together (they had to stay close to the kids, so they opted to find a spot on the colourful carpet so as to watch while the kids played with their toys and games once they came inside). Clint was doing a fantastic job as his character, Natasha noted—his back story was quite convincing and the way he held her close was practically like the real thing (which it could have been for all Natasha knew). The two spent near a half hour with Maxine and Beth, sharing their “story” that was well thought out by S.H.I.E.L.D. Once they left the building hand-in-hand, Natasha let out a relieved sigh.

“It’s nice to see you.” Clint said as they walked to Natasha’s car (he took a taxi here and already had his things at the apartment). Natasha looked up at him while pulling out her keys.

“Why did you come to the preschool?” She asked simply, taking back the hand Clint held and got in the car.

Clint followed suit, “I already said I wanted to surprise you.” He said while giving Natasha a grin. She started the car and soon left the parking lot, “You don’t seem happy about this.”

“Your showing up at the preschool was not part of the plan.”

“Don’t be a control freak, hot sauce.” Natasha rolled her eyes, “I’m pretty sure a fiancé wasn’t part of the plan, either.”

“Be quiet.” The two were silent for a few moments.

“Did you miss our bickering?” Natasha looked at Clint with as straight a face as possible, “I think you did.”

“Hardly.” She muttered as they drove down a busy road. Clint slumped in his seat casually as he watched Natasha.

“I missed the bickering… and you.” Natasha stole a side glance at Clint.

“How cheesy and cute.” She joked.

“Well, aren’t we just off to a _great_ start.” Clint said with a sign, “How about we get to business—how were things going up until a few days ago?”

Natasha licked her lip, “Slowly; gaining Maxine’s trust was a little harder than expected, but now that I have it things are getting along. She’s very careful, though, about what she says.” Clint nodded.

“Have you met her husband?”

“Not yet… but with you here, I think we’ll have a better chance. Did S.H.I.E.L.D. get you a job in his office building?”

Clint shook his head as Natasha pulled up to the apartment complex, “No, but I will be close by—he goes by a foreign affairs agency quite often and S.H.I.E.L.D. believes it has something to do with the mission. With me there we’ll have a better chance of finishing this.”

The two climbed out of the car and began walking to their temporary home. Natasha thought silently about the mission along the way. When they reached the room, Natasha prepared to discuss more about their mission, but when the door closed behind them, Clint pinned her to the wall. With a surprised glare, Natasha tried to shove him off.

“Clint, what are you doing?” She asked and looked up at his face. Clint gave her a small grin.

“Sorry, I just missed you, Tasha.” He replied and leaned a little closer, “I thought I’d try to see if I could catch you a little off guard… and I succeeded.” Natasha rolled her eyes, but stopped trying to push Clint away.

“And you’re just gonna keep me pinned here until I fight back?”

“No, I’m going to keep you pinned here _even when_ you fight back.” He looked at Natasha cheekily, “Missed me?”

Natasha let out a low laugh, “Obviously.” She replied. After a moment of looking Clint in the eye, Natasha slowly began to lean toward him. Clint saw this and also began leaning forward, hoping to meet her lips. Natasha grinned lightly as their noses brushed, “You know, Clint…”

“Hmm…?”

Natasha’s eyes looked suddenly full of mischief. In an instant, she kneed Clint in the gut, gave him a hit to the side of the head, and forced him on the ground. Clint stared at the ceiling in shock, “You should _never_ let your guard down.” Clint sighed loudly as Natasha casually walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

Maybe asking to have Clint as back up wasn’t such a good idea. Natasha was almost sure that he was trying to be a distraction on the mission, and it really got to her; even when she threw glares and death threats, Clint would just laugh it off. He didn’t seem to be taking it seriously. Surprisingly enough, though, he was.

When Clint was at the foreign affairs agency, he was always on top of his game; his job placed him perfectly—he could always keep an eye on Howard Karan and get closer. Howard, like his wife, was careful about what he let people know; on one or two occasions when Clint tried to make conversation, he noticed this. Slowly, though, he’d began to gain Howard’s trust with the right words. And with that trust, Clint would take them down.

One day, as Clint sat at his desk, Howard came in at his usual time. Today, someone came with him. As Clint looked up to greet Howard, a smirk came to his face.

“Maxine!” He called in the cheery voice of James, causing the couple to halt and look at him, “What are you doing here?”

Maxine gave Clint her usual smile, “I’m joining my husband for a meeting.” Clint looked at Howard, acting as if he was surprised.

“This is your husband? What a coincidence.”

“How do you know Mr. Brandt?” Howard asked Maxine in a low voice.

“His fiancé and I work together.” Maxine replied, “You never said you worked here.”

Clint shrugged, “It was never brought up.” He looked between the couple, “Small world, huh?”

“Most definitely.” Maxine looked at her watch, “We have a few minutes till our meeting; come to the waiting room with us, James.” Clint nodded and stood, walking with the Karans down the hall to wherever they had a meeting. Now, Howard actually took some time to get to know Clint’s character, feeling a better sense of trust since Maxine knew him.

The couple spent almost ten minutes with Clint and they seemed to really enjoy his company; Clint was proud to have finally formed a bond with both of the targets ( _‘Natasha’s been here longer and I still got farther than her!’_ ); it gave him a good advantage.

When the couple were about to enter an office, Maxine looked back at Clint, “The four of us should do dinner some time.”

Clint smiled largely, “We really should; call Sarah later and we’ll figure it all out.” They all said their goodbyes and as Clint walked away a large smile crossed his features; he was moving this mission along nicely.

* * *

Natasha was lying across the couch looking at paperwork when Clint came back. She glanced up at him for a brief second before looking at her papers again.

“I think I’m moving this mission along better than you have.” He said cheekily and sat on her legs. Natasha let out a surprised grunt at the added weight pressing on her knees and gave Clint a cold gaze.

“And why is that?” She asked carelessly, trying to pull her legs out from under Clint. He stood for a moment to move her legs before he fell back on the couch and let Natasha kick her legs into his lap.

“I’ve set up a date.” Natasha raised an eyebrow, “Our targets invited us to go to dinner with them.” Natasha still looked unimpressed, “I’ve met both targets, made some kind of bond with them, and now have figured out a time for us to be alone with both of them.”

“Do you want a cookie for your success?” Natasha mocked.

“Yes, but we don’t have cookies.” Natasha set down her papers to look at Clint, “I expected you to be a little upset that I’ve done more in one week than you have in one month.”

“It’s helping to get the job done; it doesn’t make me upset.” Natasha replied; she was, though, a little annoyed at Clint’s success thus far.

Clint rolled his eyes, “Sure thing, babe.” Natasha jabbed her toe into Clint’s side, but he merely laughed as he clutched his rib, “I don’t want to be in an abusive relationship.” The two stayed quiet for a moment.

“How did you manage to set up a dinner date?” Natasha asked curiously.

Clint gave her a small smirk, “Maxine came into the foreign affairs agency with Howard today.” At that, Natasha sat up a little.

“Did you try to listen in on the meeting? Or get any information?” Clint shook his head.

“I couldn’t listen in without appearing suspicious, but I caught a glimpse of who they meet with—and Indian man, and a young blonde guy.” Clint barely caught the excited glint in Natasha’s eyes at the news.

“We’re really moving along now.” She said, sitting up entirely to be level with Clint’s eyes, “When we meet with them we will definitely get _something_.”

Clint gave Natasha a grin, “So, since we don’t have cookies do I get another reward for my success?” Natasha largely rolled her eyes.

“Have you _ever_ gotten rewards in the past for stuff like this?”

“Well, no, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start getting rewards.” A devilish look was in Clint’s eyes as he grabbed hold of Natasha’s legs and pulled her closer to him. Natasha sighed, but smiled lightly as Clint leaned toward her.

“You’re not a dog; you don’t get treats for doing something right.” She said lowly as Clint pressed his forehead to hers.

“I could be…” Clint suggested and looked into Natasha’s eyes for a moment. Slowly, he pressed his lips down onto Natasha’s, waiting to see if she’d pull away. When her full lips began moving against his, Clint wrapped an arm around Natasha’s waist while more firmly pressing his warm lips over her own. After a few more moments of lips slowly responding to one another, their pace quickened. Natasha put her hand firmly in Clint’s hair as his kiss grew hungry and aggressive, sending both their minds into whirlwinds of no definite thought.

When Natasha’s tongue forced its way into Clint’s mouth, he groaned while quickly pulling her entirely into his lap, eliminating as much distance between them as they could manage. Their tongues explored each other’s mouths, taking in every inch they could as their hands roamed in the others hair and over their bodies.

Clint moved away from Natasha’s mouth, sucking her tongue between his lips for a few moments before he all but attacked her neck with smoldering open-mouthed kisses. Natasha’s head leaned back, pushing her neck forward while her nails dug into Clint’s shoulders. As Clint’s tongue glided down the skin of Natasha’s soft neck and collar bone, she pressed her body heavily against him.

Clint’s teeth grazed over Natasha’s collarbone as she made a sound of pleasure. But after a moment, Natasha’s cover phone (they couldn’t often use their S.H.I.E.L.D. phones while undercover) rang loudly, causing both to groan in annoyance. Natasha pulled back and reached for the phone where it sat on the table.

“It’s Maxine.” She said breathily. As she answered, Clint leaned his ear against the phone to try to listen in on the conversation, “Stop it… no, not you Maxine, I was talking to James… yes that could be great…” Clint pressed his face against Natasha’s neck again, rubbing his hands slowly up and down Natasha’s hips, “Tonight? We can do that… okay, meet you there.” Clint bit Natasha’s neck, causing her to squeal lightly, as she hung up. Natasha gave him a small glare, “We’re meeting the targets in an hour.”

“Should we get ready?”

“Not yet.” The two grinned at each other as their lips came together once more. As they frantically kissed each other, Clint grabbed Natasha firmly and lied them back on the couch while his hands began to reach under her shirt.


	5. Chapter 5

The restaurant Clint and Natasha found themselves in was fairly typical—a little fancier than average, but besides that nothing particularly special. The Karans seemed very much in their comfort zone here—this was probably a favourite location for them—which was good for the mission; if they were comfortable, they would more freely speak about things. Clint and Natasha both knew how to get the answers they need, they just had to play casual and curious.

So, for a while, the two couples made idle chit-chat—just jumping into some serious topic would make the Karans suspicious. Clint and Natasha had done this before—they knew exactly what they were doing—but both were a little distracted by each other. Their free time they had before going to the restaurant was put to… good use, but it left Clint constantly teasing Natasha for more while she couldn’t quite contain all her grins and light blushing. In the end, it appeared to be a good things—they were acting very much like a couple—but the two would lose some of their focus. The Karans suspected nothing, though—Clint and Natasha were just another happy young couple.

Clint, on this particularly mission, discovered the affect he could have on Natasha; he could made her blush with every touch and word he said. Sometimes he would whisper little things to her, others he would tell the Karans like “she makes me want to be a better man” (which, Clint would admit, held more truth than it probably should have), but with whatever it was, he could see the blush tinge her ears and how she shifted in her seat. Clint didn’t know he could weaken the strongest spy he knew until he went on this mission. He contemplated using this new knowledge again in the future.

But that didn’t go to say Natasha was completely weakened—Clint was too, though he seemed to have a better self composure. Natasha could get him to tense when her hand rested on his thigh, make him catch his breath as her breath brushed past his cheeks. This was almost like a game now, putting each other in a frenzy with their endless flirting. Maxine even commented on how much they teased each other, which made the two realize that they had to focus.

So, they tried their best to ignore their personal feelings and remember the mission.

The dinner with the Karans turned out to be surprisingly successful—Natasha and Clint didn’t get much, but they got enough. A few things they already knew were mentioned (trying to work with a company in India on an unnamed project), which seemed to be Howard boasting about his connections and success, but they learned a few new things—Howard planned to ditch the Indian company once he reached his desired success and whatever technology he was using/creating was going to be his connection to restricted files and government information. Now, the Karans didn’t just come out and say this, but both Natasha and Clint were good at putting the pieces together, even with the distractions of each other.

As Clint walked into the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth, Natasha added their new found information to the Karan file.

“We need to find out who that Indian guy was.” Clint said while setting down a hand towel. He stepped into the doorway and looked at Natasha.

“That was my plan.” She replied, “There was no mention of him in their files before.”

“And he’s not an employee at the foreign affairs place—I checked—so he must be some kind of representative for the Indian company Karan is working with.” He walked toward the bed where Natasha was with the papers and sat while casually slinging his arm around her, “If he’s there tomorrow I’ll get a picture and will go from there.” Natasha took a side glance at his arm and moved from his hold. Clint sighed loudly and gave Natasha a look, “Why aren’t I allowed to casually hold you?”

“Because I’m working.” She said simply.

 _‘You were working well with distractions earlier…’_ Clint thought.

He opted to then watch Natasha work—he noticed how she kept a straight face the whole time she added notes, how her posture became more slumped over her paper as she got deeper in her work, and how her foot tapped lightly to an unheard beat. They were some of the little things that made Clint grin.

“How much do you actually need to add to that?” He questioned. Natasha looked up at him, “We don’t have _that_ much to add; I just think you’re trying to waste time.”

“And you want to spend time on things not valuable to the mission.” Clint rolled his eyes as he continued grinning.

“Come on, Tasha, this is like free time for us—put down the papers and relax.” Clint leaned toward Natasha and set his chin on her shoulder, breathing on her neck and ear. Natasha shivered slightly, “You know you also want to do those invaluable things…”

“Clint…” Natasha put her papers to the side as Clint brushed his lips over her shoulder, “We can’t get distracted.” Which they had already done, so even Natasha saw almost no point in her statement.

“And as of this moment we can’t move the mission forward.” Clint replied with his hand snaking its way to Natasha’s thigh, “Tomorrow we can get to work again.”

Natasha glanced at the clock quickly and watched as the numbers changed from 11:59 to 12:00, “It is tomorrow.” She gave Clint a cheeky grin as he groaned, also stealing a glance at the clock.

“Woman…” he muttered as he pulled her lips toward his. Clint gave her a long heated kiss, “Being cheeky like that is my thing.” Clint practically forced Natasha to lie back on the bed as their lips pressed together, moving quickly and hungrily. Natasha’s hands slid up Clint’s naked torso (she secretly loved that he basically refused to wear a shirt to bed) and reached into his hair and the skin on his shoulders forcefully. Clint’s hands couldn’t decide whether or not they’d play with Natasha’s hair, massage her thighs, or grope her back, but did a rotation of each. Their tongues by this point were practically at war with each other, and their bodies were as close as they could get when Natasha tried to pull away. When she did she leaned her forehead on Clint’s shoulder as they still held each other.

“We should sleep.” She mumbled.

“Sleep is so boring.” Clint replied and kissed her hair.

“Well, maybe sleep thinks you’re boring.” Clint pulled back enough to give Natasha a raised eyebrow, “Clint, can we just go to bed?”

“Already in bed.”

Natasha smacked his shoulder as she grinned, “Aren’t you just humourous.” Natasha rolled onto her side, Clint following her motion, before she cuddled into him, “I just want to sleep.” A small yawn came from Clint that he failed to suppress, “And I think you do to.” Clint gave a small smile as he had come to rub small circles on Natasha’s back.

“Fine, this time we’ll sleep, but next time…” He trailed off as Natasha rolled her eyes.

* * *

The next day, Clint gained access to security tapes from the day before; he spent a good sum of time going through it all, trying to find all tapes of the Karans, their Indian accomplice, and any agency employees involved. Clint eventually found the footage of their meeting, but also dug through a few more things to find other clips of the unknown man. Once all that was done, Clint left the office and made his way back to the apartment.

Another hour later and Clint had the man’s name after putting the footage on his laptop—Sajad Suresh. Clint sent a request to S.H.I.E.L.D. asking them to attain all the background information on the man and get it to him and Natasha as quickly as they could.

By the time Natasha arrived back from the preschool, Clint had been reading Mr. Suresh’s file and writing anything that could be of value to their mission. Natasha found him like this when she got home: sat on the couch with his computer open—video clips and files on the screen—all their paper work thus far spread out on the table, and a new page of notes in hand. Natasha couldn’t deny that she was a tad impressed every time she saw him so focused on paper work—it reminded her why he was a favourite at S.H.I.E.L.D.

Natasha sat herself on the arm of the couch and leaned over him to look at his work, “What have you got?”

“ _Everything_ on this man.” Clint pointed a pencil at his computer screen while glancing over his papers, “He is _very_ valuable to the Karans plan.” Natasha read Clint’s notes and glanced up at the screen to get a look at his image.

“Does he seem familiar to you?” She asked as she stared at a picture of him. Clint turned a little to look at Natasha.

“Not to me.” He said simply and put down his paper, “Have you seen him before?”

Natasha stared at Suresh’s picture for another few moments, “I think I have, but I can’t be sure.” She looked very thoughtful as she tried to figure it out, “Maybe from a past mission…”

“If that’s the case, we’ll have to be extra careful—he could have dealt with S.H.I.E.L.D. before.” Clint turned himself to be better facing Natasha, “He might be one of the reasons the information is kept so well under wraps.”

“They could be farther along in this than we first assumed.”

“We’ve gotta be quick so nothing happens before it can’t be stopped.”

“But we still don’t have enough.” Natasha sighed, “We are missing so many pieces of information.”

Clint put his hands on either side of Natasha, “Howard is the weakest link—he’s our best bet; next time I see him we’ll get this outta him. You need to continue getting Maxine to talk. This Sajad guy needs to be watched.”

“That’s a job for both of us.” Clint nodded.

“So, Ms. Rosewood, you ready to get shit done?”

Like Clint suspected, Howard was too easy to slip information from; with the right words on Clint’s part, he got more information than expected. And Natasha, though with a little more prying, experienced similar success—the Karans were so easy to play. But they were still careful—some of the most important parts were kept under many layers of protection.

There was also Sajad Suresh. Natasha was a little hesitant because she had the strong feeling she had interacted with him before; there was a chance he would recognize her. Clint tried to get to him, but Suresh didn’t want anything to do with anyone besides the Karans, which was posing as a great challenge. Natasha and Clint had told S.H.I.E.L.D.  that they practically had things all taken care of (which then had S.H.I.E.L.D. put a few agents on standby), but there was that Suresh problem.

Eventually, Natasha came to the decision that she’d do whatever she could to get Suresh to give them the information. They were going to figure out this mission and finish it properly.

But unfortunately—and very out of character—Natasha made a terrible mistake.


	6. Chapter 6

Natasha was going to make her move—she planned to go to Suresh and get all the answers. She would make it quick and easy so to take down the Karans plan. She had complete confidence in herself to finish the job. So, Natasha found Suresh—she got the location of where he was staying and awaited his return.

But Suresh anticipated her.

Natasha wasn’t sure how, but Suresh was ready for her—she should have expected this, after all she recognized him, so what wouldn’t make him paranoid while working on such a secretive project? With help from some “friends” he got her and gave himself the upper hand. Now, Natasha was trapped—Suresh and his men took her to god knows where, all the while acting proud and cocky. They thought they won and—in her current situation—Natasha felt they possibly could. But she _never_ gave up that easily; she fought against them and tried to escape, but Suresh and his men knew what they were doing while handling her.

So, now, Natasha was firmly tied up, practically cutting off her circulation in some limbs, and she had no weapon for help. If these men were idiots, she’d be done here, but after her quarrel with them Natasha knew these men had dealt with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Suresh was quite amused by Natasha’s struggles—she had a fire in her, but she couldn’t use it to help her. It pleased him to see her weak, unlike the time he was against her before—Suresh wouldn’t let S.H.I.E.L.D. stop him again.

“So, Agent Romanoff…” Natasha froze at the sound of Suresh’s accent saying her _real_ name, “we meet again, but this time you won’t take me down.”

Natasha glared down Suresh in a way that would commonly frighten others, “Well, in that case, would you at least remind me where we’ve met before?” Natasha squirmed more as Suresh’s men left the room to guard the building or something of similar regards.

“You must remember your time in Budapest—”

“You were _not_ there; you would be locked up or dead.”

Suresh made a disapproving sound, “Now, I wasn’t finished—don’t you agents have any manners?” Natasha continued to glare as she struggled against her restraints, “Don’t try to get out of those, it won’t work… As I was saying, you were in Budapest a long while back… well, I was the continuation of the Budapest plans.” Realization dawned on Natasha, “Of course, at that time I was under a different name.”

“We caught you—we had you locked up with who was left of your colleagues from Budapest.”

Suresh spread his arms, “Yet here I am, free, and there you are, soon to die.”

“Then explain yourself before I die.” Natasha said as she looked around her in hopes to find something that could be of use to her. Suresh let out a low chuckle.

“I know how you agents work—you think you’ll escape and be able to share my explanation to defeat me. I won’t make the same mistakes I did last time.” Natasha’s eyes flickered around quickly at hearing the slightest of sounds that she _knew_ didn’t belong here, “I’m on my guard, keeping my senses sharp.”

“Then explain why you haven’t caught me yet.” Suresh whipped around at hearing the unexpected male voice as Natasha grinned.

_…Clint entered the apartment and took quick notice of how silent it was; Natasha always got back before he did. He quickly assumed, though, that she was probably with Maxine; they were determined to finish this mission, after all. So, Clint decided he’d try to get more parts of the case down. He sat with the computer and notes, going through it all and looking for anything he and Natasha had missed before._

_Clint spent hours on different activities to occupy his time (television, Sudoku, etc.); it was getting late and still there was no sign of Natasha. He began to have the feeling something wasn’t right. Clint tried calling Natasha and when he got no answer he knew something bad happened; he wasn’t sure how exactly he knew, but maybe it was some kind of a sense that was telling him Natasha needed him. In a bit of a frenzy, Clint went to the bedroom and pulled from the closet a case holding his bow, quiver, and arrows; he realized he could probably go without it, but when Clint felt so positive that something quite bad happened, he felt it best to use his most trusted weapon._

_Clint’s first stop was the Karans home. When he checked the place, Maxine and her daughter were there, but no Howard. This rose Clint’s suspicions._

_Then, as if on cue, Clint heard footsteps and in one of the most fluid motions he had an arrow aimed at the chest of the man whom the footsteps belonged to. Standing with a menacing look was this large man; behind him, another man of similar size, then Howard Karan behind him. An almost amused look came to Clint’s features as he waited for someone to make a move._

_“Nice to see you,_ James _.” Clint smirked at Howard._

_“Lovely evening for some shooting.” Clint said simply._

_“Who are you really?”_

_“Right now, the man meant to stop you.” Clint pulled a little tighter on the string threateningly._

_“I can’t be stopped if we stop you first.” The large man closest to Clint swung out his arm, but Clint ducked while shooting his stun arrow into the man’s chest. Howard disappeared quickly as the second man came at Clint who swung out his bow, making contact with the man’s front, momentarily distracting the burly man enough for Clint to pull another arrow._

_Once the brainless goons were handled, Clint went to follow Howard, who was running into the house (which was anything_ but _a smart decision). Clint followed and could hear Howard yelling at Maxine to take their daughter and get out. Clint jumped the man easily and pinned him to the floor. He could hear a car start, assumed it was Maxine, and made the decision to go after her later._

_“Now, Mr. Karan,” Clint started as he put some pressure with his bow on Howard’s neck, “tell me where my partner is.”_

_“I don’t know.” Clint pressed harder, making Howard’s eyes widen, “I’m telling the truth!”_

_Clint stared dangerously into Howard’s eyes for a few moments, “Then where is Sajad Suresh?” Howard gulped loudly, “Now, or I won’t spare your life.”_

_Howard rolled his eyes, seeing little threat in that statement, “Oh please—”_

_“Or your families.” Howard’s face completely fell. Clint never intended to hurt anyone, but if the threat is what he needed to get his answers, the he’d damn well use it._

_Karan caved then, telling Clint Suresh’s location and where he planned to go next. After getting his answers, Clint sedated Howard, contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. to send in the agents on standby, then left to find Natasha..._

Instantly, Clint shot an arrow at Suresh, who just nearly dodged it. Clint ran into the room, unsheathing another arrow to shoot, but Suresh suddenly pointed a gun at Natasha’s head.

“Not as easy as you though, Robin Hood?” Clint kept aim while standing tensely, his eyes shifting between Suresh’s twisted grin and Natasha’s wide eyes, “You shoot, I shoot—now that’s easy.”

“Clint, you can do this.” Natasha said quietly.

“I _am not_ letting this man shoot you.” Clint replied quickly.

“Clint—!”

“Don’t try to persuade me, Nat! We made a deal to never let each other die if we can help it!”

Suresh chuckled, “How sweet… so, put down your weapon and I might let her live.” Clint and Natasha stared into each other’s eyes for a few silent moments before Clint slowly relaxed his bow and bent to drop it to the ground, “Very good…” as Suresh pulled the gun from Natasha’s head, Clint pulled two throwing knives from his pouch and threw. One cut past Suresh’s hand, causing a scream to emit from him while knocking the gun from his grip, the other ripped through the tight cord wrapped around Natasha’s ankles, clipping off a small scrap of cloth from her pants. The two assassins were on Suresh in a flash; Clint grabbed his bow again, Natasha tripped Suresh to the ground with her now free legs and jumped up.

“Not so easy? Funny, I thought it was.” Clint said while aiming an arrow at Suresh’s shocked face, “Don’t underestimate the best of us.” Natasha walked with a slight limp to Clint and easily pulled a knife from his pouch, cutting the rope expertly from her wrists (Natasha’s had to free herself from restraints much too often for her liking).

“Have you contacted S.H.I.E.L.D.?” She asked while walking around Suresh slowly.

“Thirty minutes ago; could take them another thirty minutes.” Clint replied, never removing his eyes from Suresh.

“That’s enough time for some interrogation.”

“Oh, that’s more than enough, babe.” Clint grinned as he mockingly pulled his string to frighten Suresh, “Could be fun.”


	7. Chapter 7

Clint and Natasha sat silently in the back of the jet sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. Strapped in the seats across from them were Howard Karan and Sajad Suresh, whose glare did nothing to faze any of the six agents occupying the aircraft. The other agents sent in to help finish the mission did their jobs expertly and took care of destroying or collecting any traces of the existence of Sarah Rosewood and James Brandt. All that still needed to be done was locate Maxine. Clint and Natasha made the decision to return and do that tomorrow, because they wanted to personally see Howard and Sajad to Fury and their new “homes.”

Natasha looked at Clint, who was grinning and currently in a staring contest of sorts with Sajad; this was Clint’s silent way of mocking the man who they took down for a second time. Natasha wanted to be alone with Clint, she wanted to just talk with him, hold him, maybe share a kiss (that she would try to convince he and herself was because of her excitement over their victory), but they were here on this jet where they could find no privacy. They were due to arrive at S.H.I.E.L.D. soon, but that wouldn’t be soon enough for Natasha.

Once they got to S.H.I.E.L.D., Clint requested they do the debriefing once Maxine was found which would then give him and Natasha some time to themselves. The two continued to stay quiet as they walked alongside each other to the living quarters—neither wanted to even think about breaking the silence at that time. They together went to Clint’s room, where he pulled a paper from his pocket that was part of their mission file (he kept this specific sheet while giving Director Fury the rest of it), skimming it while sitting in his desk chair. Natasha raised an eyebrow at the paper and sat across from Clint on his cramped bed.

“Why did you keep that?” She asked. Clint took another few moments to read.

“To get an idea of where Maxine might go to hide; I want to find her quickly.” He replied, “I’m guessing she went somewhere a good few hours from their home, to some place where she could be alone without the trouble of anyone recognizing her.” Clint read more of the page, “We need to worry about her kid, though.”

Natasha’s face straightened slightly, “Of course… I forgot about Lilly.” Clint looked up at Natasha, “What are we going to do with her?”

“Find some family for her to live with;” He started while setting the paper down, “it would be better for her to adjust to life without her parents if she was in a familiar location.”

“Right…” Natasha looked at the ground, “the poor kid…” Clint gave Natasha a confused look.

“You’re getting a little emotional about this.”

“I understand how bad it is to be involved with criminals at such a young age.” She replied simply, “But it’s nothing; I’m not going to shed tears for the girl.”

Clint looked skeptical, “You might not shed tears, but it brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Natasha whipped her head up and Clint could see the hurt she tried to mask in her eyes, “You’ve always gotten like this whenever there are children who lose their parents.”

Natasha sighed heavily—she could always rely on Clint to know what was going on in her head, “It hits home.” Clint saw her body fall in a saddened state, which made him stand to go take a seat next to her.

“Tash…” she looked away from Clint as he put a hand on her knee, “you don’t need to try to hid this, you know; it’s me you’re with.” Clint leaned slightly, hoping to get her to look back in his eyes. Eventually, Natasha slowly gave Clint her gaze, which was a battle between anger and sadness all trying to come out from her mask of confidence, “You have me.”

Natasha sighed as she leaned her shoulder on Clint’s, “I know, I’m just… not one for talking about emotion.”

“Then don’t talk.” Clint’s arm wrapped around Natasha, “You don’t need to.”

So, the two sat in silence for a good few minutes; Natasha took this time to recompose herself and pull away from her memories as Clint made sure to hold her close, a silent reminder that he was there for her. He always wanted to be there for Natasha, as she always wanted to be there for him. They were each other’s homes, each other’s families, virtually each other’s everything. If one was going to fall, the other would catch, that’s how it had always been.

When Natasha’s eyelids eventually began to droop against her will, Clint took no surprise, knowing that it had been a long day. Slowly, he lied them both back on the small bed so they could rest for the new day ahead of them.

* * *

Natasha read the tablet screen quietly as Clint drove them down a long, empty highway; they were on the trail of Maxine Karan, but have yet to catch up to her. Natasha was keeping track of where Karan might have been heading or any stop she’s made in the past twenty-four hours; thus far, she wasn’t doing such a great job at covering her tracks, but this only made Clint and Natasha’s job easier.

As the sun began to set, a notification from S.H.I.E.L.D. came through to Natasha; after reading it, her eyes brightened, “Karan used her credit card at a Motel 6 about an hour from here.” Clint took a side glance at Natasha, “We’ll just keep going down the road for a while—the motel is in a small town, probably the only sign of life we’ll see for a while…”

“So, this is gonna be a smooth take down; no problems.” Clint said in a casual tone.

“Unless she’s obtained some fighting skills to match our own, I think we’ll be good; it’s just dealing with Lilly that could be an issue, because she’ll be confused and panicked—managing a child is harder than some would expect.”

“She knows you, so maybe you can take care of keeping her in check while I get Karan.” Natasha nodded.

“That sounds best, but if—for some reason—I have to take Maxine you need to be prepared to handle Lilly.” Clint looked at Natasha with some amusement.

“I’ll probably scare the kid—you know that whole ‘stranger danger’ crap, she could freak out.”

“Then we should hope you won’t have to get her.” Natasha replied with a grin.

“We should hope…”

So, the two drove, making some small talk about the mission and goals for it. They saw virtually nothing as it became night on the empty highway and they hoped to actually find the motel they were heading for.

After about fifty minutes, the pair drove into a small town (which was more like a single street of rundown family businesses) that was like all the other obscure ones people find on road trips. Easily, they found the small Motel 6. When Clint pulled over he looked to his partner.

“Okay, we make this quick and easy.” She said as Clint nodded.

“I’ll call S.H.I.E.L.D. now, let’s check out the place.” After sending a message to S.H.I.E.L.D., the two got out of the car and looked around; there were only three other cars parked and only one that Natasha had seen before.

“They’re probably in one of those rooms.” She said while pointing at four rooms.

“Only two with lights—might have just decided to stay low, though, and turn theirs off.” Clint muttered to himself, “Let’s check it out.”

Finding Karan was a piece of cake; overpowering her was even easier. Everything went smoothly save for one small detail: Lilly, just as Natasha suspected. The young girl took well to having Natasha there (whom she still thought was Sarah), but when she saw Clint man handling her mother, Lilly panicked; first wide, shocked eyes, then questioning Natasha, soon after were tears, and finally screaming. Natasha couldn’t be mean to the poor girl, but she had to shut her up and calm her down, which was difficult. Seeing the girl so pained saddened Natasha, but she didn’t know what else could be done about that.

They waited a short time for S.H.I.E.L.D., whom had a helicopter closely following the agents. But when they landed and got Maxine inside, Clint started thinking about the situation.

“Is it a good idea to put the kid with her mother?” He asked Natasha, “Just… look at the two of them; should we wait and have them go separately?”

Natasha looked between the mother and daughter carefully, “No, let them have this last amount of time together.” Natasha knew it would probably be the last time Lilly would get to see her mother. So, with that, everyone climbed into the helicopter for the short, difficult ride back to base.


	8. Chapter 8

After two days of completing files, handling criminals, and debriefing, Natasha and Clint could finally say they completed the mission—they solved all the loose ends and ended all acts pertaining to the Karan’s plans. They could now breathe a sigh of relief and relax, even if just for a day. Natasha’s primary focus had been to handle Lilly and get her somewhere safe and familiar while Clint decided he’d handle a great deal of the debriefing. All either of them wanted to do was put this case behind them.

And that’s what Natasha had been trying to do all day—she spent time throughout the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters on whatever she could get her hands on. She knew she’d drop this quickly like she had all other missions, it would just take a good distraction.

So, Natasha spent a lot of time in the training room; she loved a hard workout to clear her mind. Clint also enjoyed a good bit of exercise, so when he found Natasha there it came as no surprise. She was merely beating up a punching bag, so he knew she hadn’t been there very long and he was enjoying seeing Natasha as she usually was. Natasha heard him come in, but didn’t acknowledge his arrival as she continued to beat on the defenseless equipment.

“I half expect you to pull a Rogers and knock that thing from its hook.” Clint commented as he watched from the side. Natasha looked at him with an amused grin as she gave the punching bag one last good swing. She wiped some sweat from her brow as she walked toward her partner.

“Wanna take its place?”

Clint smirk mischievously, “If you plan to show me a _different_ kind of abuse.” Natasha socked him in the shoulder as he chuckled, “Just speakin’ my mind.” Natasha took a seat on the bench to let her muscles relax for a few minutes while Clint watched her carefully, “We did good this time; a ‘fun’ and successful mission to say the least.”

Natasha sighed heavily, “It’s one I’d like to forget about.”

“Why?” Clint took a seat next to her, “Because you needed me to help?” He joked but got no response, “Just trying to forget it like most other missions?”

“I only want to remember the ones that were important to me.” Natasha replied, “This is just another basic mission to me with no gain or value for myself in the end.”

“I would assume that Suresh guy was kinda important, though.” Clint said.

“Hardly—he’s just another reminder of Budapest.” A very obvious grin crossed Clint’s lips, causing Natasha to raise an eyebrow at his expression.

“I though Budapest was pretty important; I _really_ enjoyed Budapest.” Natasha rolled her eyes, “You did, too.”

“I don’t see how you could enjoy that war zone we were thrown into… and how would you know I liked it?”

Now, Clint raised a suggestive eyebrow, “Well, based on you putting up with me for all this time and the fun we had some days ago on the mission…”

“As a whole, Budapest wasn’t so great.” Natasha started, “But our… alone time on that trip was quite memorable.”

“It damn well better be memorable.” Clint replied with a chuckle as his knee nudged Natasha’s, “I sometimes wonder if Fury knows about all that.”

“There’s a _very_ likely chance; he might even know about all the other times.”

“’All the other times’ of what?” Clint asked as he grinned, only having ever imagined hearing Natasha say something along the lines of ‘fucking each other senseless’ (though he _knew_ she’d never even come close to saying it that way).

“You know exactly what I mean, Barton.” Both agents sat in silence for a minute or two with fairly similar thoughts about their discussion on their minds.

“I can’t believe we get away with that.”

“Hmm?” Natasha turned her head to look at Clint.

“I don’t imagine you’ve kept track of how many times we had sex—”

 _‘Nearly forty times in the last ten years.’_ She thought casually as her ears grew slightly pink.

“—but S.H.I.E.L.D. has never suspected it.” Clint looked at his hands for a moment, “And if they have suspected things, they don’t feel like acting on it.”

“Maybe they want evidence.” Natasha joked.

“They wouldn’t find any; maybe to get their attention we have to be a little more risqué.” Clint replied while leaning toward his best friend, “We could try to get their suspicions up.”

Natasha began leaning closer to Clint, “And what would we gain from that; losing our jobs?”

“Maybe they’ll let us off with a warning.”

Just as Natasha could practically feel Clint’s lips on hers she stood swiftly, her hair lightly whipping him in the face while doing so. With a large grin, she looked down at his glaring eyes, “We’re not in high school, Clint, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t do warnings—that’s one risk I won’t be taking any time soon.”

Natasha walked back toward her punching bag as Clint looked her up and down, “You just wait Romanoff…” He challenged as the partners gave each other meaningful smiles.


End file.
